When the post-match debate centres on whether England were poorer in Murrayfield or Paris, there is definitely trouble at mill. They never looked remotely likely to score the four tries required to retain a mathematical interest in the Six Nations title race and it would have been distinctly rough justice on France had the visitors sneaked home late on in Saint Denis. One or two England players felt afterwards they might have received a penalty for French defenders going off their feet at the final ruck under the posts; it would still not have erased the horrors of the previous 79 minutes. In many ways this was even worse than Edinburgh; until the latter stages, Eddie Jones’s side made barely any consistent attacking headway and will need a dramatic improvement to topple the Grand Slam-chasing Ireland. The last time England lost three Six Nations games on the trot was 12 years ago. Robert Kitson

) Ireland are relentless but their defence is suspect

Whatever the opinions about Ireland and their method – and there has been curious dissent over the way they play – they make you tackle. This was not quite the record-breaking 256-tackle fest France were put through in round one, but the 190 tackles Scotland had to make is enough to be getting on with in Dublin. Ireland are nothing if not relentless. Another curiosity, though, is the fallibility of their own Andy Farrell-constructed defence. Three home games, seven tries conceded – and they were carved up enough times by Scotland to make that tally seem flattering. Whether England prove the team to exploit this remains to be seen. Michael Aylwin

While Wales can point to narrow defeats in Twickenham and Dublin, they are trailing the Irish because, at a time when their gameplan is evolving, they lack the accuracy of the champions. Some of their play against Italy was sublime, passing in contact, running clever support lines and sensing space, but they were also guilty of over-exuberance and conceded too many penalties.

There's a bit of sense in that as Scotland butchered two good try scoring chances when the game was still in the mix but in fairness to Sexton he did a fine job in saving one of them by slowing up the play and forcing the pass which didn't come off.Stockdale missed a few tackles and someone flew up once and was caught in no man's land for another Scottish opportunity.

Fair play to the Irish lads though, they took most of what was on offer and it didn't look like the scots would close the margin.

England were poor yet again against the French, devoid of a plan it seems, but the French near gifted them the win at the death by not getting the kick in touch with the clock already run out!Had to laugh a Paul O'Connell talking over the commentry at the second last English lineout about not complicating it and just ensuring you win possession and build, just as they were f**king it up much to Brian Moores histrionics.

I've just backed Ireland at 5/6 on Betfair to win the Six Nations. It's still on offer.

That’s the grand slam betting!

It's not. It's disappeared now but this morning there was a "To win the Six Nations" market, with only one contender - Ireland 5/6. I just put on the minimum bet of €2 out of curiosity to see what would happen. It's still there under "My Bets", but my account hasn't been debited so I assume the bet will be voided.

Update: my account has now been debited by the €2 so the bet still stands for now.

Further update: The market has reappeared, now titled "To win the Six Nations but not the Grand Slam" and the detail on my bet has been similarly adjusted. I suppose I could complain that that wasn't what I signed up for but I know they'll just use the "obvious error" clause.

I'd urge caution on taking advantage of mistakes by bookies.

After a non-runner was declared in a race about 18 months ago, Skybet made a hash of the re-pricing. I then bet on all 3 of the remaining runners, which would have left me with a guaranteed profit of €50 or €60, no matter which of the 3 won. Skybet then noticed, and voided all 3 of the bets, which was fair enough. But then they banned me from all promotions and restricted my bets so the most I could win for any bet was €50. Hoors!

First comment is talking about us dealing with being favourites, despite the fact we’ve been the pick of the bunch overall in Europe for most of the last five years and have continually beaten all but NZ from the south. Jesus wept. They’ve dealt with being favoured admirably.

English writers hyping up an Authumn test with NZ to try and puff us up when only the third Grand Slam in our history is on the table. I know which of the two matches everyone in Ireland would prefer to win.

Cian Healy had a shoulder injury it seems, it looked a lot worse on Saturday all the same.

Is he out??

Big loss. Serious ball carrier and against England you need 4 props!

healy has had some turnaround he looked finished during last years tour of USA and Japan but has been impressive in the six nations , looks to have lost a few kgs which given him a bit more mobility

Great post. After such a meteoric rise early in his career he sort of stalled for a while there. Loosing that bulk has definitely helped with his mobility and he is playing great stuff for Leinster and Ireland(back to the form early in his career). Although he is only 30, the stresses placed on the bodies of these players will generally lead to shorter career spans. I suppose that's in the back of his mind. Saying that, at the minute there is a great mix of experience and youth in this Irish setup. Really exciting times.

Cian Healy had a shoulder injury it seems, it looked a lot worse on Saturday all the same.

Is he out??

Big loss. Serious ball carrier and against England you need 4 props!

healy has had some turnaround he looked finished during last years tour of USA and Japan but has been impressive in the six nations , looks to have lost a few kgs which given him a bit more mobility

Great post. After such a meteoric rise early in his career he sort of stalled for a while there. Loosing that bulk has definitely helped with his mobility and he is playing great stuff for Leinster and Ireland(back to the form early in his career). Although he is only 30, the stresses placed on the bodies of these players will generally lead to shorter career spans. I suppose that's in the back of his mind. Saying that, at the minute there is a great mix of experience and youth in this Irish setup. Really exciting times.

Whilst it's a gruelling position they normally get 50 to 55 minutes max whereas poor Mike Ross had to last the 80 or the Irish scrum was reversing at a serious rate of noughts.